A Little More Remote Work Could Change Rush Hour a Lot

[cpzilliacus]

New York Times: A Little More Remote Work Could Change Rush Hour a Lot - Peak commute time has long ruled our lives, our cities, our tax dollars. But it doesn't have to.

There is something uniquely awful about that time of day when there is no good way to get around. The car horns sound nastier as downtown traffic snarls. The elbows feel sharper on a jammed subway. The sight of red brake lights is soul-crushing when they lead on a highway all the way to the horizon.

Mere mention of it makes the body tense up: rush hour.

But for much of the pandemic, it vanished. Not only did people travel less over the past year, with schools closed, restaurants off-limits, and millions of workers unemployed or at home; they also traveled less in a very particular way. Rush hour peaks flattened, smoothing travel demand around cities across the country into a low-grade continuous flow, a Tuesday morning not so different from a Saturday afternoon.

[bluecountry]

New York Times: A Little More Remote Work Could Change Rush Hour a Lot - Peak commute time has long ruled our lives, our cities, our tax dollars. But it doesn't have to.

There is something uniquely awful about that time of day when there is no good way to get around. The car horns sound nastier as downtown traffic snarls. The elbows feel sharper on a jammed subway. The sight of red brake lights is soul-crushing when they lead on a highway all the way to the horizon.

Mere mention of it makes the body tense up: rush hour.

But for much of the pandemic, it vanished. Not only did people travel less over the past year, with schools closed, restaurants off-limits, and millions of workers unemployed or at home; they also traveled less in a very particular way. Rush hour peaks flattened, smoothing travel demand around cities across the country into a low-grade continuous flow, a Tuesday morning not so different from a Saturday afternoon.

Good.  Took a pandemic to realize how much TDM can help and how little offices are needed.

[SEWIGuy]

New York Times: A Little More Remote Work Could Change Rush Hour a Lot - Peak commute time has long ruled our lives, our cities, our tax dollars. But it doesn't have to.

There is something uniquely awful about that time of day when there is no good way to get around. The car horns sound nastier as downtown traffic snarls. The elbows feel sharper on a jammed subway. The sight of red brake lights is soul-crushing when they lead on a highway all the way to the horizon.

Mere mention of it makes the body tense up: rush hour.

But for much of the pandemic, it vanished. Not only did people travel less over the past year, with schools closed, restaurants off-limits, and millions of workers unemployed or at home; they also traveled less in a very particular way. Rush hour peaks flattened, smoothing travel demand around cities across the country into a low-grade continuous flow, a Tuesday morning not so different from a Saturday afternoon.

Good.  Took a pandemic to realize how much TDM can help and how little offices are needed.

Maybe in your industry but not mine. My local rush is pretty much back to pre-pandemic levels.

[froggie]

^ What are you defining as your "local rush"?

Asking because I'm recalling a recent article I read (WSJ, IIRC) that noted in the 20 largest U.S. metro areas, afternoon periods are actually busier than pre-pandemic (work-from-home folks running errands) while the "traditional" rush hours were still quieter, especially the morning rush.  This trend was also noted in several mid-size regions as well.

[vdeane]

I think it's interesting that many people are doing mid-day errands with WFH.  When NYSDOT did WFH, the policy was/is that you're supposed to keep to your regular hours, with the same rules regarding lunch/breaks as when in the office.  How many people actually followed that, however, is another matter.

But yes, it did change things.  Pre-pandemic, telecommuting had a four day/pay period maximum, and agencies had to opt in (NYSDOT did not).  The next contract with my union isn't finalized, but there are potential changes on that front, and NYSDOT appears to have interest in allowing some form of telecommuting going forward (although I do hope the office will be more populated than it is now with most people on one day/week; it gets lonely when there's nobody around).

It's hard to say how rush hour has been affected here.  The morning seems lighter, but that's the most definitive thing I can say.  The exit 3 project on the Northway was finished in late 2019, so there's no baseline for comparison for the PM commute (which was always seasonal; winter, early tourist, track, and leaf peeping seasons are all different - not to mention Christmas).  Northway traffic seems to be closer to normal, but getting to the grocery store is harder - I don't remember the light east of the SPUI backing up into the SPUI regularly before, but now it does nearly every day.  It's also harder to get my preferred parking space at my apartment, as my competitors seem to still be working from home and can more easily "steal" the spot (the trees are nice to look at, but they cause my car to get covered in bird poop unless I restrict myself to a narrow subset of the lot).

[GaryV]

Does Captain Obvious work for the NYT now?

It doesn't take much of a genius to figure out that if less people are going in to work, traffic will be lighter.

[SEWIGuy]

Does Captain Obvious work for the NYT now?

It doesn't take much of a genius to figure out that if less people are going in to work, traffic will be lighter.

I think projections that this will have a significant impact on traffic are going to look pretty back in five years.

[SEWIGuy]

I think it's interesting that many people are doing mid-day errands with WFH.  When NYSDOT did WFH, the policy was/is that you're supposed to keep to your regular hours, with the same rules regarding lunch/breaks as when in the office.  How many people actually followed that, however, is another matter.

If you are going to treat work from home like that, you might as well not work from home.  The whole point of working from home is the flexibility it gives people and to judge people by the work that they do and not the time it takes to do it.

[kalvado]

I think it's interesting that many people are doing mid-day errands with WFH.  When NYSDOT did WFH, the policy was/is that you're supposed to keep to your regular hours, with the same rules regarding lunch/breaks as when in the office.  How many people actually followed that, however, is another matter.

If you are going to treat work from home like that, you might as well not work from home.  The whole point of working from home is the flexibility it gives people and to judge people by the work that they do and not the time it takes to do it.

It would take another pandemic to move away from "on the clock" the culture. A lot of work is paid for by the hour, and that makes sense as those with fixed salary can be easily abused by piling more and more work on them. Fair pay for fair work is OK with freelance contracts where the amount of work is fixed, not in ongoing operations where things never end.

[SEWIGuy]

I think it's interesting that many people are doing mid-day errands with WFH.  When NYSDOT did WFH, the policy was/is that you're supposed to keep to your regular hours, with the same rules regarding lunch/breaks as when in the office.  How many people actually followed that, however, is another matter.

If you are going to treat work from home like that, you might as well not work from home.  The whole point of working from home is the flexibility it gives people and to judge people by the work that they do and not the time it takes to do it.

It would take another pandemic to move away from "on the clock" the culture. A lot of work is paid for by the hour, and that makes sense as those with fixed salary can be easily abused by piling more and more work on them. Fair pay for fair work is OK with freelance contracts where the amount of work is fixed, not in ongoing operations where things never end.

The type of work that should be judged by the hour will always be done in person.  People who can work from home should by and large be salaried. 

[cpzilliacus]

The type of work that should be judged by the hour will always be done in person.  People who can work from home should by and large be salaried. 

That depends on what they are doing.  For example, call center employees can work at home if they have good telephone and Internet connections.

[JoePCool14]

Another NYT article? Seriously?

This is the most obvious conclusion ever. But after doing online school for over a year, I've had enough of "work from home" or "school from home" for a lifetime. Human interaction, even at its most simple is good and more important than I think many of us realized. I'm not saying WFH doesn't work for some people, but as for me, I'm not a fan of it at all.

[Roadgeekteen]

Another NYT article? Seriously?

This is the most obvious conclusion ever. But after doing online school for over a year, I've had enough of "work from home" or "school from home" for a lifetime. Human interaction, even at its most simple is good and more important than I think many of us realized. I'm not saying WFH doesn't work for some people, but as for me, I'm not a fan of it at all.

Well more introverts being able to work at home will reduce traffic. I personally hated online school and don't really like remote things.

[US 89]

I used to think I was a huge introvert. Then I realized how much I missed actually interacting with people. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

[Roadgeekteen]

I used to think I was a huge introvert. Then I realized how much I missed actually interacting with people. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

Me too. Even introverts need some social interaction.

[kalvado]

I used to think I was a huge introvert. Then I realized how much I missed actually interacting with people. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

Me too. Even introverts need some social interaction.

Things may work differently for different people. I, for one, have some long Zoom meetings - 1 or 2 on Wednesday and 2 on Friday.
It just makes sense to run those from home. If there are things that can be done remotely and planned for those days, that is 1 or 2 days of remote work, and I hope to keep at least part of that arrangement permanently.

[Rothman]

I have no objection to those who want to be in the office.  Just don't drag me in with you just because you want social interaction.

[SeriesE]

I have no objection to those who want to be in the office.  Just don't drag me in with you just because you want social interaction.

Totally agree! My social life outside of work is healthy enough that I don't have to use the workplace to socialize with people.

[vdeane]

I used to think I was a huge introvert. Then I realized how much I missed actually interacting with people. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

Me too. Even introverts need some social interaction.

Things may work differently for different people. I, for one, have some long Zoom meetings - 1 or 2 on Wednesday and 2 on Friday.
It just makes sense to run those from home. If there are things that can be done remotely and planned for those days, that is 1 or 2 days of remote work, and I hope to keep at least part of that arrangement permanently.

Meanwhile, I find that these meetings are easier at the office - my work desktop has dual monitors, making taking notes far easier, and I can use the office phone to connect audio rather than run the battery down on my cell phone.

[SEWIGuy]

I have no objection to those who want to be in the office.  Just don't drag me in with you just because you want social interaction.

No but I will drag you there because I believe a sense of place benefits teamwork.

[kalvado]

I used to think I was a huge introvert. Then I realized how much I missed actually interacting with people. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

Me too. Even introverts need some social interaction.

Things may work differently for different people. I, for one, have some long Zoom meetings - 1 or 2 on Wednesday and 2 on Friday.
It just makes sense to run those from home. If there are things that can be done remotely and planned for those days, that is 1 or 2 days of remote work, and I hope to keep at least part of that arrangement permanently.

Meanwhile, I find that these meetings are easier at the office - my work desktop has dual monitors, making taking notes far easier, and I can use the office phone to connect audio rather than run the battery down on my cell phone.

By now, my home office is on par, if not better, than my work desk. And even 2-person conversation longer than 5 min is easier to do on zoom.
But this is really YMMV thing. However, even if half people get one day of WFH per week, that is 10% of traffic - and it is not a negligible change

[3467]

Kastle.com does a weekly update of building occupancy. Other sources match the NY and Chicago numbers. Considering all the state's have been open for much higher limits it looks like a lot of remote work will continue.
It will have to because the labor force may have shrunk because of retirement low immigration and I suspect long covid.

[jeffandnicole]

I think it's interesting that many people are doing mid-day errands with WFH.  When NYSDOT did WFH, the policy was/is that you're supposed to keep to your regular hours, with the same rules regarding lunch/breaks as when in the office.  How many people actually followed that, however, is another matter.

If you are going to treat work from home like that, you might as well not work from home.  The whole point of working from home is the flexibility it gives people and to judge people by the work that they do and not the time it takes to do it.

That is hardly the whole point.  In my case, I have a fairly strict schedule to follow, as certain information is provided to me, or I provide info to others, at specific times of the day.  By working at home I can communicate with my team earlier and later than in the office.  I'm waking up 1.5 hours later, yet "at work" 30 minutes sooner.

Early on in the pandemic, I realized that this was probably going to be for the long-haul.  I bought myself 2 monitors to hook up to my laptop so I would have a home set-up as if I was in the office. It was $210 well spent.  I know not everyone had the means to do this, but many people figured if work won't provide them with the tools to work, then they weren't going to bother.  These people put themselves in a situation where helping themselves and spending just a few dollars would've been beneficial for the next year (and longer, at this point).

If you are supposed to be working from 8 - 5 or whatever, and you complete your work by 1pm and play hookie the rest of the day, the powers that be are probably taking notice that you aren't putting in a full day's work.  This info is available to the powers that be when personnel action needs to be taken: ie: layoffs.

[Roadgeekteen]

I have no objection to those who want to be in the office.  Just don't drag me in with you just because you want social interaction.

No but I will drag you there because I believe a sense of place benefits teamwork.

Not if one member is an unwilling participant.

[Scott5114]

I have no objection to those who want to be in the office.  Just don't drag me in with you just because you want social interaction.

No but I will drag you there because I believe a sense of place benefits teamwork.

If you can't work together without being physically in the same room as someone you're a pretty piss-poor team to begin with. Or at least, you're admitting you're worse at teamwork than your average Wikipedian, or Linus Torvalds, and that bar is so low it's a tripping hazard.